2011 Maxima & Very Hot Weather Oil Recommendation?

[MAKamal]

This is my first post in this forum and seeking your help.

I am due to an oil change by next week and the oil change will be done by the dealer since the car is under the warranty for 3 years, the oil change interval is 5000 km (3000 mile) but the first oil change will be at 1000 km (600 mile).

Here are Q/As you might need to know:

- What kind of vehicle you have?
- What your owner's manual says -- not just viscosity, but certifications (look for acronyms like API SM, ILSAC GF-4, etc.) and change intervals as well.
- Where you live?
- How you drive (easy? hard? fast? slow?).
- What your daily drive is like (short trips? long trips? city? highway?)
- Whether your car has any known problems?

- 2011 Nissan Maxima 3.5 VQ35 - 800 km (500 mile) did so far.
- As per the owner manual, API, ILSAC and SAE certifications and as per the dealer recommendation, the OCI will be every 5000 km (3000 mile).
- Bahrain, Persian Gulf. Temp range during summer is 25~50 C (77~122 F). The weather during summer is very humid, dusty, gritty...
- Easy and rarely driving it fast, hardly boosting it to 160 km/h (100 m/h).
- Mostly City and short trips.
- No. The car is brand new and still under the warranty.

Type of oil and viscosity grade I am looking for.
Thank you for your great cooperation.

 

[hate2work]

What weight (viscosity) does your owner's manual call for?

 

[901Memphis]

Nissan recommends 5 1/8 quarts of 5w30 if you include the filter change.

VQ engines can quickly shear a 30wt oil down to a 20, i would recommend German Castrol Syntec 0w30 which starts out closer to a 40wt and will come down to what you want. Many VQ owners have reported good results with this oil.

Another popular choice is Shell Rotella T6 5w-40 synthetic which can be purchased in 5qt jugs at Walmart for a great price or anywhere 5qt jugs are available.

The GC 0w30 can be found on sale at various autoparts stores on sale with 5 qts + a filter at various times.


If you want a top performer try Mobil 1 0w-40 which is known to be one of their best oils.

Make sure to use a good filter like OEM if you can.

For the 3000 mile oil change you can get away with any name brand 5w30 , 0w30, 0w40, 5w40 that you can find; conventional or synthetic should do you fine.

 

[dubie2003]

I'd venture to say that you should run a syn due to the temps out there in the desert. You should be fine with a 5w30 or even a 10w30 if you stick to the 3k intervals. If you go to the 5-8k intervals after warranty, it may be best to use a 5w40 or basically a 40w so that when it does shear, it is still within spec when drained.

The real question is: Why brand name oils do you have out there? Are they all Euro types or what?

 

[HTSS_TR]

For 3000 miles oil change interval I would stay with conventional oil 10W30. After warranty I would synthetic 5W40 and extend oil change interval to 6-7k miles. I would change the air filter often because of dusty and sand storm, every 10-15k miles (15-20k km).

 

[Finklejag]

Welcome

Do people on this site even read the post anymore? I highly doubt it they have Autozone's over there, where people can pick up 5 quarts and a filter for $19.99

We need some more infomation. What viscosity does it show in the owners manual? What oil choices do you have over there? I would go for a 40 weight oil in the VQ.

 

[momo]

Originally Posted By: dubie2003

Why brand name oils do you have out there?


To clarify

What not why?

 

[FZ1]

Run a synthetic oil in the oem spec for your temp range. Change the AF with an oem AF often. Always change the AF just prior to an oil change.

 

[Ram01]

Just use PYB 5w30 with the Blue bottle of STP oil treatment that will cover the shearing of the oil. you will be fine running 5k oci with that combo

 

[CATERHAM]

Originally Posted By: FZ1
Run a synthetic oil in the oem spec for your temp range. Change the AF with an oem AF often. Always change the AF just prior to an oil change.

This is the best advice you're going to get.
You don't drive your car hard and any 5w30 syn will handle the high ambient temp's with out issue.

Oh, BTW welcome to BITOG.

 

[Gene K]

Originally Posted By: MAKamal
This is my first post in this forum and seeking your help.

I am due to an oil change by next week and the oil change will be done by the dealer since the car is under the warranty for 3 years, the oil change interval is 5000 km (3000 mile) but the first oil change will be at 1000 km (600 mile).

Here are Q/As you might need to know:

- What kind of vehicle you have?
- What your owner's manual says -- not just viscosity, but certifications (look for acronyms like API SM, ILSAC GF-4, etc.) and change intervals as well.
- Where you live?
- How you drive (easy? hard? fast? slow?).
- What your daily drive is like (short trips? long trips? city? highway?)
- Whether your car has any known problems?

- 2011 Nissan Maxima 3.5 VQ35 - 800 km (500 mile) did so far.
- As per the owner manual, API, ILSAC and SAE certifications and as per the dealer recommendation, the OCI will be every 5000 km (3000 mile).
- Bahrain, Persian Gulf. Temp range during summer is 25~50 C (77~122 F). The weather during summer is very humid, dusty, gritty...
- Easy and rarely driving it fast, hardly boosting it to 160 km/h (100 m/h).
- Mostly City and short trips.
- No. The car is brand new and still under the warranty.

Type of oil and viscosity grade I am looking for.
Thank you for your great cooperation.


Go with the viscosity recommended in you manual for your conditions. Most likely it will have a temp chart that allows for higher viscosities than the US Owners Manual.

If Group I Conventionals are still available over their avoid them. Any API SM/GF4 or later SN/GF5 (Preferred) Oil should be fine for 5,000 km changes. I suspect that has more to do with worries about sand making it by the filter than oil break-down.

 

[MAKamal]

Sorry guys for my late reply as I was waiting for the information...

It seems that the dealer is using conventional Mobil 1 20w50 for all the Nissans including the Infinities andy they admitted they didn't had any problem by using this type of oil viscosity. I asked them If I bring the oil myself would you change it under your supervision for the sake of the warranty, they said it should be OK but they will check the type of the oil before that.

At the end I had no choice today but to allow them changing the oil of the first 600 mile with what they have "20w50" till I reach 3K and from then I will bring the oil best for the car.

My questionis , is it OK to run the car with 20w50 for the first 3K? I hope it's OK..

BTW, the weather will be on its peak for the next 6 moths 115+...

 

[MAKamal]

Originally Posted By: hate2work

What weight (viscosity) does your owner's manual call for?


5w30
But also the following:

10w30, 10w40, 10w50, 15w40, 15w50, 20w40 and 20w50.

 

[MAKamal]

Originally Posted By: dubie2003
The real question is: Why brand name oils do you have out there? Are they all Euro types or what?


The available oil brands are: Mobil 1, Castrol, Havoline, Shell, Total, Liqui Moly, and may be more...

 

[MAKamal]

Originally Posted By: Finklejag
Welcome
We need some more infomation. What viscosity does it show in the owners manual? What oil choices do you have over there? I would go for a 40 weight oil in the VQ.

Thanks for you suggestion. To answer your question please see my replies above.

 

[MAKamal]

Originally Posted By: FZ1
Run a synthetic oil in the oem spec for your temp range. Change the AF with an oem AF often. Always change the AF just prior to an oil change.


Thanks for your advise. I will do that.

 

[MAKamal]

Originally Posted By: Ram01
Just use PYB 5w30 with the Blue bottle of STP oil treatment that will cover the shearing of the oil. you will be fine running 5k oci with that combo

As per the car manual, Nissan does not recommend the use of oil additives.

 

[MAKamal]

Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
Originally Posted By: FZ1
Run a synthetic oil in the oem spec for your temp range. Change the AF with an oem AF often. Always change the AF just prior to an oil change.

This is the best advice you're going to get.
You don't drive your car hard and any 5w30 syn will handle the high ambient temp's with out issue.

Oh, BTW welcome to BITOG.

Thank you for your advise and for your welcoming

 

[MAKamal]

Hey again...

I will bring this thread to life as I did not reach to any decision on which oil to use. My next oil change for the first 5000KM is due in 3 weeks, therefore as you have suggested earlier about the oil grade I have searched my local market for the available range of oils with similar oil grade but with different names.

Here is a list of my findings

Castrol Magnatec Proffesional 10w30
Classification: API SN, SM, SL (SJ and all superseded classifications)/CF. ILSAC GF-4, GF-3, GF-2
KV @ 40 C (cSt): 62.8
KV @ 100 C (cSt): 10.4
Viscosity Index: 148

Castrol Magnatec 10W-40
Classification: API SM (SL, SJ, SH and all superseded classifications)/CF. ACEA A3
KV @ 40 C (cSt): 102
KV @ 100 C (cSt): 14.5
Viscosity Index: 149

Castrol EDGE 5W-40
Classification: API SM/CF. ACEA A3/B3, A3/B4, C3
KV @ 40 C (cSt): 82
KV @ 100 C (cSt): 13.9
Viscosity Index: 174

Castrol Magnatec 5w30
Classification: API SL, ILSAC GF-3, ACEA A1/B1, A5/B5
KV @ 40 C (cSt): 53.1
KV @ 100 C (cSt): 9.46 (Max 12.5)
Viscosity Index: 163

Mobil 1 0W-40
Classification: API SM, SL, SJ, CF. ACEA A3/B3, A3/B4
KV @ 40 C (cSt): 78.3
KV @ 100 C (cSt): 14
Viscosity Index: 186

LIQUI MOLY Synthoil High Tech 5W-40 (Made in Germany)
Classification: API SM/CF. ACEA A3-04/B4-04
KV @ 40 C (cSt): 86
KV @ 100 C (cSt): 14.1
Viscosity Index: 170

LIQUI MOLY Longtime High Tech 5w30 (Made in Germany)
Classification: API SM/CF. ACEA A3-04/B4-04/C3-04
KV @ 40 C (cSt): 67
KV @ 100 C (cSt): 12
Viscosity Index: 178

Shell Helix Ultra 5W-40 (Approved by Porsche and Ferrari)
Classification: API SM/CF. ACEA A3/B3/B4
KV @ 40 C (cSt): 76.3
KV @ 100 C (cSt): 13.8
Viscosity Index: 187

Fuchs TITAN SUPERSYN 5W-40 (Fully Synthetic)
Classification: API SM/CF. ACEA A3/B4
KV @ 40 C (cSt): 85
KV @ 100 C (cSt): 14
Viscosity Index: 170

Fuchs TITAN GT1 Pro Flex 5w30 (Synthetic)
Classification: API SM. ACEA A3/B4/C3
KV @ 40 C (cSt):
KV @ 100 C (cSt):
Viscosity Index:


Currently the dealer is using a conventional oil Mobil 20W-50
Classification: API SM, SL, SJ or SH. ILSAC GF-4
KV @ 40 C (cSt): 162
KV @ 100 C (cSt): 18.1
Viscosity Index: 124

And here is what is in the car manual

Thank you and regards,

 

[Garak]

Now, why can't Nissan/Infiniti make a chart like that for North America? I suppose they don't want us obsessing too much.

Caterham will be proud of me - don't go too thick, even though it's rather warm there. The same engine is speced for 5w30 in North America. I would assume that the engine would go into limp mode if the oil got too hot - thus, you don't want too thick of an oil in the first place, since it will just run hotter anyhow.

If it were me, I'd stick with the M1 0w-40 or something 5w30 SM like the Fuchs TITAN GT1 Pro Flex 5w30 or LIQUI MOLY Longtime High Tech 5w30.

Why is the Castrol Magnetech in 10w30 all SM or better, while the 5w30 is SL in your location?